Friday, September 11, 2009

Friday Night Fab Five: Sometimes Its Good to be Droopy

Being a big believer in "background noise" I started playing "The Long Long Trailer" with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Looking at the (teeny tiny amount of) special features, I came across "Dixieland Droopy". A Droopy cartoon?! SCORE! I may not have been around when Tex Avery's Droopy first hit the scene but when I was a kid, I couldn't get enough of this slow, quiet, clever little pup. Come to find out what I really couldn't get enough of was anything created by the amazing Tex Avery.

From his entry in Wikipedia:

"Frederick Bean "Fred/Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He did his most significant work for the Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, creating the characters of Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Droopy, Screwy Squirrel, and developing Porky Pig and Chilly Willy (this last one for the Walter Lantz Studio) into regular cartoon characters. His influence was found in almost all of the animated cartoon series by various studios in the 1940s and 1950s.

Avery's style of directing broke the mold of strict realism established by Walt Disney, and encouraged animators to stretch the boundaries of the medium to do things in a cartoon that could not be done in the world of live-action film. An often-quoted line about Avery's cartoons was, "In a cartoon you can do anything," and his cartoons often did just that. He also performed a great deal of voice work in his cartoons, usually throwaway bits (e.g. the Santa Claus seen briefly in Who Killed Who?), but Tex did fill in for Bill Thompson as Droopy, although the individual cartoons where Avery did this have never been specified."


Seeing his work now is even better, now that I am old enough to catch most of the jokes that flew over my head as a child. *grin* So for this week's Friday Night Fab Five, I thought I would pick 5 of my favorite Tex Avery cartoons. And believe me, picking only 5 was a pain in the butt. Big time. I highly suggest a further Tex Avery search on You Tube. His cartoons never fail to make me happy. So without further ado...

1. Deputy Droopy

Holy crap, when the two bad guys go running up the hill over and over in an effort to keep from screaming and waking up the Sheriff, I still laugh till I cry.



2. House of Tomorrow

Any of Avery's "of Tomorrow" cartoons are priceless in my mind. It was hard to pick just one.



3. The Cat That Hated People

Sometimes I'd loved to blast myself into space to get away from it all. hee hee But not if it meant going to this planet straight out of Wonderland.



4. Billy Boy

I love this good 'ole boy of a wolf. When I was a kid, this is what got me believing that goats ate everything in site.



5. Little Rural Riding Hood

No Avery collection is complete without his infamous Red Riding Hood...



I hope you enjoyed watching these and that they brought a smile to your face! Have a great weekend everyone!

22 comments:

The Wallace Family said...

OK so I have never seen any of those cartoons lol. I guess I was too young or watched the wrong channel lol! I always love reading your Friday Night Fab Five because I learn something new everytime:)

That Crazy Ajumma said...

I grew up on Tex Avery cartoons..I love them!!
I have seen all of these too.
I just love how Droopy talks,especially when he says..."I'm soooo happy".
LOL!

laterg8r said...

droopy is too cute TFS :D

Julie Tucker-Wolek said...

Droopy just ROCKS...amen! :):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

Winchester Manor said...

LOVED Little Rural Riding Hood! Thanks Maggi that was fun!

{ erin } said...

saw these and immediately thought of you!!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_2&listing_id=30582928

deb famularo said...

aww droopy!
This reminds me how crappy today's cartoons are. We were lucky we had it pretty good back then!
Have a great weekend.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Thanks for the flashback Maggi! Next I want to see a Friday 5 on the Monkees. hehe
PS on my blackberry when my friend Ang calls it plays Hey hey were the Monkees. =o)

Anonymous said...

Woohooo, loving the friday night fab 5 as always!

debra@dustjacket said...

They did you crazy girl!

Have a fab weekend,
xoxo

Witchcrafted Life said...

Droopy is just too cute words! Thank you for sharing these absolutely wonderful classic cartoons with us, sweetie! (I really like how the gal in the last one looks like en earlier iteration of Jessica Rabbit).

Wishing you a beautiful weekend, hon!
♥ Jessica

Duchess of Tea said...

Darling, have a lovely weekend.

Love, Hugs & Tea
Duchess ♥♥♥

Jocelyn said...

Thanks for sharing these..I got a tickle and I ADORE DROOPY!!!! Thanks Maggi for making my Friday Night!!!! :)

Daniella said...

I love that one!! "express line" "moon special" still cracks me up!!

Anonymous said...

omg Maggi, my family went camping all last month and my husband found the "Long, Long Trailer" and we watched it....how funny to read someone else has even seen it. Takes "rock collecting" to a whole new level. TFS!!

Alicia said...

i love the red riding hood!!! LOVE!

yyam said...

Great cartoons Maggi! Love'em! Thanks for sharing! Have a great Sunday!

Unknown said...

omg...forgot about these cartoons! i LOVED THEM! cartoon's definitely aren't the same anymore :( thanks for sharing! yes, lots of smiles here...and giggles!

Keith said...

Great clips. I especially dig the last one. This was such a fun post to check out. Hope you've been enjoying your weekend.

Creations by Marie Antoinette and Edie Marie said...

I certaining grew up on these cartoons.I love them then and love them now.Thak you so much for sharing these memories again.Please stop by.I'm having an anniversary giveaway.XXOO Marie Antionette

Fink said...

I always have loved Droopy! I enjoy when he goes up against the bull!!!! Quite cute!

Carmen said...

Aw, thank you for this post Maggi :D Has just made me chuckle for ages. Love Rural Red Riding Hood :P

These oldies are still the best though I have to confess my favourite is that ol' puddy tat Sylvester. I was over the moon to find a Tiffany style stained glass hanger in the image of him a few years back. OH gets to vetoe many of my purchases for the house but never Sylvester ;)